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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943460">be cruel to me (i'm a fool for you)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliveryservice/pseuds/deliveryservice'>deliveryservice</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Pre-Slash, ryuji and goro go to the mall: the story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:21:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943460</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliveryservice/pseuds/deliveryservice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Akira makes questionable decisions - because whoever thought it'd be a good idea to send Goro and Ryuji to gather supplies for the Phantom Thieves' next excursion together has <i>got</i> to have their decisions questioned somehow.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Sakamoto Ryuji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>be cruel to me (i'm a fool for you)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Know thy enemy</em>. It’s a term Ryuji’s had coined in his brain for the last two (soon to be three) hours spent with Akechi in the middle of a too-crowded mall while carrying three shopping bags with one hand and balancing his can of pop with the other.</p>
<p>Akechi, the smug-looking bastard (as Ryuji calls him in his head), is carrying <em>zero</em> bags; only holding a steaming cup of black coffee he’d gotten <em>Ryuji</em> to buy for him as if he isn’t the wealthier one between the two of them. Ryuji scowls at him from the side; Akechi’s smile is serene and mocking.</p>
<p>“At least help me carry one of these, man,” Ryuji whines, gesturing at the bags he’s balancing with his fingers and his wrist.</p>
<p>Akira, for some reason, thought it would’ve been a good idea to get the both of them to purchase supplies for their next run into Sae’s palace while he met up with his contacts. Ryuji knows this entire ordeal would’ve gone better had he been assigned to shop with Ann, or even <em>Makoto</em>. And Makoto is the first one who admonishes him whenever he says something she doesn’t approve of—which is almost always, these days.</p>
<p>“Of course!” Akechi says, taking a moment to plaster a sheepish expression on his face. Ryuji doesn’t trust him one bit. “Sorry, I didn’t even notice you needed my help.”</p>
<p>“I’ve been carrying all three of these since we got out of the store.” Ryuji doesn’t pout because Ryuji Sakamoto <em>doesn’t pout</em>. He just… juts out his lips. There’s nothing wrong with that and it isn’t a pout. “My arms are gonna fall off!” he complains.</p>
<p>“Now, now,” Akechi tuts, though he takes the bag that’d been falling off Ryuji’s finger with practiced ease that leaves Ryuji green with jealousy—you’re not supposed to look that good and smooth when taking bags!—covered by a grouchy scowl. “I know your arms aren’t as delicate as that, Ryuji.”</p>
<p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryuji asks. Unbidden, his cheeks flush.</p>
<p>“You swing around a bat, do you not?” Akechi retorts, amusement swimming in his eyes. “If your arms were as frail as that, I doubt you’d be able to do what you do.”</p>
<p>It isn’t even a compliment. Akechi’s words are matter-of-fact, easy observations made from the hours they’d now spent fighting in the Metaverse together. Still, it does enough to shut Ryuji’s mouth. He huffs and pointedly looks away, rearranging the last two bags still in his grasp to be positioned less precariously.</p>
<p>“Did I say something?” Akechi asks.</p>
<p>“No,” Ryuji denies, even as his thoughts race with <em>what the </em>frick <em>is going on, this bastard’s acting weird</em>. “So you’ve noticed I use bats?” the question comes out of his mouth without his filter having done its job (not that Ryuji uses his filter very often), and had Ryuji owned less dignity, he would’ve squeaked. Bad brain. <em>Bad brain</em>.</p>
<p>“It’s hard not to notice,” Akechi answers. Instead of weirded-out, Akechi actually sounds mildly interested in the conversation, taking periodic glances at Ryuji with something considering glinting in his pupils. “Not when you swing it around like a safety hazard,” he quips.</p>
<p>Ryuji’s laugh comes out a beat too late.</p>
<p>“What does that mean?!” he snaps, shoving his hand in his pocket after he successfully tosses his finished can of soda into the nearest trash can. Ryuji pumps his fist into the air, muttering a ‘hell yeah!’</p>
<p>“Nothing, nothing,” Akechi says. Ryuji squints at him, and Akechi tilts his head with an artificial smile.</p>
<p>Ryuji’s too busy squinting and glaring at Akechi to notice the pillar looming in front of him, only realizing once it’s too late and his forehead’s smacked dab into the chipped, white paint. “Damn it!” With a red mark on his forehead, he points an accusing finger at Akechi, who looks between the pillar and Ryuji with a measure of amusement—a smile threatening to break out on his lips. “This is all your fault!”</p>
<p>“I didn’t push you into that pillar, Ryuji,” Akechi says.</p>
<p>“But you—ugh!”</p>
<p>“Use your words,” Akechi chides. He appears entirely too entertained by Ryuji’s current predicament. Just as Ryuji’s ready to cuss him out in the middle of a mall, Akechi takes a handkerchief from the bag he’d tucked under his arm and presses it onto Ryuji’s forehead, the white fabric covering stinging red. “You look good as new.”</p>
<p>“What the hell, man?!”</p>
<p>(Suffice to say, the moment they return to the hideout and Akira spies Ryuji with a handkerchief plastered on his forehead and Akechi by his side trying hard not to snicker, he laughs about it to their faces.</p>
<p>Ryuji and Akechi share a look that promises payback at their leader’s expense.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>join me in ryugoro hell &gt;:)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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